Draconian Powers
by Hocapontas
Summary: AU 4 years after the series, Hitomi has returned to Gaea and married Van. However darkness lurks in the shadows waiting to emerge and a new hero will come to save Gaea once more. I'm not good with summaries, just please read and go easy on the criticism.
1. The Plot

Draconian Powers

1. The Plot

A girl ran through the streets of Fanelia toward the palace. She had important information for the King and Queen. As the girl ran through the streets she was glad that she wasn't wearing a dress. She was in fact wearing a shirt, shorts, and sneakers. Were anyone to see her they would think that she was dressed strangely. The girl also had lower back length dark brown hair, and was about 5' 5''. The girl finally reached the palace gates.

"I have important information for the King and Queen," she panted to the guards.

"What does the information contain," one guard asked.

"The safety of our Queen," she said desperately.

She was beginning to think that they weren't going to let her in when they opened the gate and one guard motioned for her to follow him. He led her down a walkway, through big double doors, down a hallway and stopped. He knocked on the door and opened it when he heard someone say, "Enter."

"Your Majesties," he said as he bowed.

Van and Hitomi were sitting in their thrones surrounded by advisors, servants, and a few guards. Van was dressed in his usual red shirt and beige pants. Hitomi was dressed in a gorgeous blue dress that showed off her hair and eyes beautifully. They had been talking to their advisors when there was a knock on the door. They stopped talking and looked to the door as Van said "Enter." The guard stepped in, bowed, and said, "Your Majesties."

"There is a young lady requesting an audience with you," he informed them. "She says she has important information for you."

Van and Hitomi exchanged a glance then Hitomi said, "Show her in." The guard left the room and came back with the girl in tow. She stepped forward, looked up and curtsied.

"What information do you bring us," Hitomi inquired.

"Can we go someplace where we can talk privately, please," she asked still curtsied.

Van cocked an eyebrow but nodded. Then he and Hitomi led the girl to Van's study. Van motioned the girl to sit and she did. She was nervous. They could see this and decided to go easy on her.

"So what is this information that you came to tell us," asked Van.

"The information concerns you," she said to Hitomi. "There is a plot to kidnap you!"

A shocked silence met this statement.

"Where did you hear this," Van demanded.

"At a bar on the east side of Fanelia, but don't jump to conclusions, they weren't Fanelian," she replied.

"How do you know," he asked upset. Hitomi put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down, naturally it worked.

"Tell us what happened," Hitomi spoke softly and calmly.

"I had gone into the bar to get a drink," she began. "I hadn't even reached the counter when I heard your name. So I hid behind a pillar to listen. They were talking in whispers but I have excellent hearing so I heard every word."

Flashback

The first man, "why does the boss want us to kidnap the Queen, Justin," he asked.

"Haven't you heard? The Queen is actually the Mystic Moon seer. The boss is afraid that she will get in the way of our plans. That's why we have to get her out of the picture long enough for us to complete the plan. We don't have to kill her unless the boss wants us to," Justin answered.

Man 3, "What about the King? He's a Dracoian. He could be a problem too."

"No," Justin said. "The boss just wants the seer, she's the major threat. Come on the boss doesn't want us to be late."

End Flashback

"That's everything I heard," The girl said. "I also saw a symbol for Zaibach on one of their swords."

"Thank you for this information," Van finally replied. "We'll check it out."

Meanwhile Hitomi had been looking carefully at the girl. Hitomi had never seen anyone like her around here and certainly not in Fanelia. So she asked a question.

"What is your name?"

The girl looked over at Hitomi surprised that she had asked, but finally after a moment of hesitation she answered. After all the Queen would understand. Why hide it?

"My name is Kyria Lea Janson," she answered. "Kyria is Greek for 'Lady' and Lea means 'Green Meadow'."

"That's not a Gaean name," Van said thoughtfully.

"No, it's an Earth name. Isn't it," Hitomi asked.

"Yes," Kyria admitted. "I'm from Earth."


	2. Kyria's Story

2. Kyria's Story

"Yes," Kyria admitted. "I'm from Earth."

"Your from the Mystic Moon," Van exclaimed. "How did you get here?! How did you even know about Gaea?!"

Van paused to take a breath. Kyria was smiling. She hadn't expected this kind of reaction. It was amusing.

"Yes, I am from the Mystic Moon," she acknowledged, still smiling. "In answer to your first question: I wished to come here. To answer your second I have to show you something and then tell you my story. Are you sure no one can see or hear us?"

"Yes, the guard at the door is an old friend of ours. He has orders to keep everyone away from here," Hitomi told her.

"Good," said Kyria getting up. She walked over to the window and closed the curtain. Then she turned around to Van and Hitomi's puzzled looks and smiled.

"What I'm about to show you is my biggest and deepest secret and I don't want anyone else to see it," she told them before turning her back on them again.

Kyria closed her eyes and concentrated. Suddenly a pair of beautiful, strong, and glowing white wings sprang from her back. White feathers floated all around the room. Van and Hitomi sat speechless staring at Kyria's outstretched wings. Kyria let out a sigh of relief and content. She hadn't let out her wings in almost two weeks, It felt good to let them out again. After a moment she pulled them back in leaving behind a flurry of feathers.

"Your a - a ----," Van couldn't finish. He was still shocked to discover that there were more Draconians still alive.

"Yes, I'm a Draconian," she supplied as she turned around to face them. "Now to tell you my story. Forgive me if I start crying it's pretty sad." Kyria sat back in her chair to begin her tale.

"I guess I should start with when I discovered my wings. You see I already knew about Draconians and Gaea, because my Grandmother, whose name was Mary, Told me stories about them.

My Grandmother had a house near a cliff overlooking the ocean. I would sit on the cliff and watch the waves. Well one day the ground under me crumbled and I fell toward the rocks below. I thought for sure I would die but I didn't. My wings came out. They weren't strong yet but they slowed my descent. I must have blacked out after that because I don't remember anything until I woke up in my Grandmother's bed with her sitting next to me. I told her what happened and even asked if I had imagined it. She said I hadn't. Then she handed me a white feather. She said she found it next to me. When I still didn't believe her, she stood up and showed me HER wings. I asked her why I never knew and she told me to ask my mother. THAT was a mistake. I asked her and she slapped me and told me to never talk about it again. She even disowned my Grandmother for telling me about Gaea and showing me her wings. My mother forbade me from ever seeing her again. Of course I didn't listen to her. I wanted to learn more and how to fly. My mother never knew. She thought I was at the Library when I went to see my Grandmother. We kept this up for about a year. Until one day Grandmother had an accident and was killed. Mom didn't even care, but I was devastated." Kyria paused. Tears were starting to run down her face, but she quickly wiped them away and continued.

"After Grandmother died I couldn't take it anymore. She had given me something when I was little. She said that I would know how to use it when the time came. That night I went to my room and packed all the stuff I thought I might need. I waited for my parents fall asleep before I took out the necklace that Grandmother gave me. I held it in my hands and wished with all my heart to go to Gaea. A bright light descended and took me away. I landed in a grassy clearing. I didn't realize it then but I was on the border of Fanelia. I saw some lights in the distance and went toward them. It was still night so no one was around, but I had to find a place to stay. I found an abandoned house and went in. It hadn't been lived in for some time, but it was still livable. So I found a bedroom, took out the sheets I brought and fell asleep. I was rudely awoken by my cat, Jake, who apparently wanted food. So I got up and fed him. Then I set about cleaning the house. It took me about two weeks. This morning I finished and went for a walk. I walked into that bar I told you about. That's the end of my story, and now I better get home. I haven't left Jake once since we came." Kyria finished.

A long silence followed. Then Hitomi asked the question that had been bugging her.

"Will you show us your necklace?"

Kyria was surprised by this but nodded. She reached under her shirt and pulled out a gold chain with a beautiful golden heart on it, with diamonds on one side. Suddenly Van's pendant and Kyria's heart burst into light and filled the room.


	3. Another Draconian?

3. Another Draconian?

Suddenly Van's pendant and Kyria's heart burst into light and filled the room.

"Where are we,"Kyria asked nervously.

"I think this is a vision," Hitomi said softly unsure.

"Then why am I here," said a voice behind them.

They wirled around to face a puzzled Van.

"Because I called you three together," said another voice.

The three looked toward the voice. Kyria gasped and tears filled her eyes.

"Grandmother," she breathed.

Kyria's Grandmother stood in front of them dressed in a white gown, with her wings spread wide. She had a sad but pretty smile on her face. She was looking at Kyria when she spoke.

"Your sadness has called to me and I came to talk to you."

"Then why are we here," asked Hitomi.

"Because I need to talk to you as well," Mary told them. "I want you two to take care of Kyria. I don't want her living alone anymore. Let her live in the palace."

She told the last part to Van. Then turned to Hitomi.

"I want you to help her remember our history. Somehow her mother blocked the memories and now she needs help remembering. They will be painful for her, but they are necassary."

"Of course I'll help," Hitomi told her.

"But Grandmother, If there painful why do I need to know them," Kyria asked nervously.

"It is important to your destiny. You must know the truth."

Kyria sighed. "Alright," she relented.

"You two may go," she told Van and Hitomi.

They vanished leaving the two alone.

"I have something very important to tell you. After you learn our history your wings will change. Thet will have markings on them. They represent your royal blood. As days go on the markings will become clearer. but they won't be fully formed until you prove yourself worthy of your royal blood. And before you ask the royal blood comes from me. In the future you will be faced with something and you must choose the right course or else your markings will fade. This something will determine your worthyness. If you fail, you will still be a royal but you won't have the markings to prove it. Take caution, my angel. Choose the right path. If you don't know which path to choose, let your heart guide you."

After all that Kyria was in shock and speechless. She finally got the courage to ask a question.

"What is this something?"

"I can't tell you that. It's time for you to go. Goodbye, my angel."

Before Kyria could say anything, everything went dark. Then she found herself sitting in the chair looking at Van and Hitomi.

"You were out for so long that we thought something was wrong," said Hitomi concerned."N-nothing's wrong," Kyria stuttered.

"What happened," Van asked.

"I'll tell you later," Kyria replied lost in thought.

Van made to say something when Hitomi put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her. She shook her head indicating he shouldn't pressure her.

"I need to get going," Kyria said getting up.

"Wait," Hitomi said. "Before you go, take my hand."

Hitomi held out her hand. Kyria looked at it curiously before taking it. She gasped. There was a flash and suddenly she was seeing scenes flash by so fast she couldn't distinguish anything. Just as suddenly as they started they stopped.

"I just thought of something," Van said suddenly. "How did you get past the guards at the gate? Your clothes aren't Gaean."

Kyria smiled. "They would have known if I had let them."

"What do you mean," he asked.

"Being a Draconian I have the same powers as you, but the two of us have other powers too."

She said this last part to Hitomi who looked puzzled.

"Why are you looking at me? I'm not a Draconian," she said confused but hopeful.

"You mean you don't know know," Kyria asked skocked.

"Know what?"

"That you ARE a Draconian."


	4. Kyria's History

4. Kyria's History

Another shocked silence met this statement. Hitomi was staring at Kyria as if she'd grown another head. Van was staring at Hitomi as if he was seeing her for the first time. Kyria looked at her watch and gave a yelp. It was ten at night.

"I really need to get home. It's really late. Jake will be frantic. I'll come back and solve this problem tomorrow, and you can tell me my history," she said all this hastily.

Her voice seemed to break the spell that her earlier statement had caused. Van and Hitomi looked out the window and were surprised at how late it was. By this time Kyria was standing at the door waiting for them to say something.

Well I'll say good-bye," she said when neither one broke the silence. She walked out the door leaving the two alone.

. . . The Next Morning . . .

Kyria woke up to see a pair of yellowish- green eyes staring at her. She laughed, got up and fed Jake. She suddenly looked out the window and saw a pair of sapphire eyes staring back at her from a tree. She shrieked. The eyes disappeared and a cat body jumped down from the tree. Kyria ran to the front door to see a cat woman standing there.

"Hi, I'm Merle. Lord Van and Hitomi sent me to tell you to get your stuff together, you're moving to the palace. They also said you can bring Jake too," She looked confused when she said this.

"Alright, give me a few minutes to get my stuff together. You can come in if you want. By the way, My name is Kyria."

She walked back up to the bedroom where Jake was now drinking water. She gathered up her stuff scattered about the room and house. After about 10 minutes everything but Jake was packed. He was laying on the bed watching her. She picked him up and put him in her backpack and closed it part way. She put it on, grabbed the rest of her stuff, and went back to the front door to find the cat woman waiting.

Kyria followed Merle to the palace. Merle led her to a room in a long, beautiful hallway meant for royals. Kyria put her stuff away and let Jake out. She took his stuff out for him. Merle watched silently but interestedly. When Kyria was finished they walked down to Van's study. Merle knocked then entered with Kyria behind her.

"Kyria, I'm glad your back. Did you sleep well?" Hitomi asked when Kyria walked in.

"Very well, Thank you."

"I have news regarding your history. But It's a long story. Please sit down. I discovered something about your Grandmother. She was Van's Aunt. That means that his Mother and your Grandmother were sisters. Which means that you and Van are cousins."

"How did we end up on Earth?"

"Your family was banished, but I'll get to that. Your Grandmother's mother, whose name was Mirana, did something terrible. She killed and tortured countless humans and animal people. She thought herself superior to them. The rest of the Draconians were infuriated and decided to stop her. They overpowered her and banished her to the Mystic Moon. She landed in a desert. She didn't know which way to fly to find civilization, So she kept flying till she collapsed and blacked out. Luckily she wasn't far from a farm. The farmer found her and nursed her back to health. She was too weak to leave when she woke up so she had no choice but to stay till she regained her strength. She was in debt to him now so when he asked her to marry him, she said yes. Against her beliefs she found herself falling in love with him. Mirana then had a baby girl, your Grandmother. When she was twelve years old Mirana told her the truth about her past. She hated her mother for another ten years when Mirana died. Six years later Mary married a man she loved. After that she had a baby girl, your mother. When she was twelve she was told the truth as well. She's had a grudge against her history ever since. She got married eight years later and had you. She's always hated you because you were a reminder of the past. Your Grandmother named and raised you because your mother didn't want to. You were never told the truth because they didn't want to burden you as they had been. But it's time you did know and now you do. Any questions," Hitomi finished slightly breathless.

Kyria shook her head. Then she remembered what her Grandmother said about her wings and knowing the truth. She opened her wings and saw markings beginning to form.


	5. Prophecy

IMPORTANT!!

I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. I lost interest for a while and then when I did start up again the laptop

I was using had a bad internet connection. I don't know when I will be able to update again so I'm giving you what I can.

5. Prophecy

The others were surprised when Kyria let out her wings. Then they saw the markings begining to form

and stared. Kyria saw the others staring so she pulled her wings in. Then she told them what her Grandmother

had said about the markings. They were shocked, especially Van.

"You have the markings too!"

This surprised Kyria. She thought that she and Hitomi were the only royal Draconians.

"You have them?"

Van nodded. He took off his shirt, handed it to Hitomi, and let his wings out. Kyria was amazed.

His markings were fully formed. Then he pulled his wings back in and put his shirt back on.

"Were you born with them or did you earn them?"

"The markings appeared right after I married Hitomi. I don't know why."

"I can answer that," said a voice.

They all looked toward the voice and gasped. A form was appearing. When the form was complete they

saw that it was Mary. She looked exactly the same.

"I can answer your question," she repeated. "The reason your markings appeared when you married Hitomi

is because she is a royal. You didn't have your markings before because your mother was disowned by the Draconians

when she followed a prophecy and married a human. The very people who thought that Draconians were demons.

Her family disowned her so her markings vanished. At the time it was up to the other royal Draconians to decide

who was to have the royal markings. Now though since there are so few Draconians left the rule changed.

The person had to prove they were worthy of the markings. Kyria will prove if she's worthy or not soon enough.

But for now she needs to study Gaea's history and practice her magic."

"Why don't you have your markings," Kyria asked.

"I never proved myself worthy before I died. I need to go. Goodbye everyone." With that she vanished.

There was along silence after she left. Everyone was going over what they had heard.

"I should get going,"said Kyria suddenly."I don't want to leave jake alone for too long."

With that said she left. Hitomi had noticed something strange in Kyria's eyes, like she had just remembered or thought of

something. Hitomi decided to follow her.

"I'm going to make sure she's alright.That was alot of information for a person to take in all at once,"

she told Van before leaving too.

Hitomi found Kyria sitting on her bed with a book in her lap and her cat asleep next to her. The dor was

slightly ajar so she knocked softly. Kyria jumped disturbing Jake, but she smiled when she saw Hitomi.

Kyria motioned for her to come in.

"I was just about to go through a book that my Grandmother gave me just before she died. I think it's

a photo album of some kind,"she told her.

Kyria opened the book to the first page and gasped. It was a picture of her as a baby. She kept turning

the pages. Each picture was of her from below age 1 to a year ago.The last picture was her with her wings

outstretched. Next to the picture was a note:

'My little Angel,

If you are reading this then that means that I am no longer with you and that you are on Gaea.

It also means that a terrible burden is about to be placed on your shoulders.You will hopefully

have friends who are able to help you.I can't say anything about this burden for you must find out

for yourself. I can give you a hint though. It involves your birthmark. That's all I can say so I

will end this. I'll always be with you my little angel.

Love,

Grandma'

"My birthmark," Kyria whispered.

She pulled her up sleeve to look at it. It was 2 very small wing like shapes. Hitomi, who could see it,

was shocked. She had seen that same symbol in a book. She decided to go look at the book again.

"I have to go check something. I'll be back later to help you get ready for the ball."

"The Ball," Kyria inquired as she lowered her sleeve.

"Yes. I forgot you didn't know. There's a ball tonight to celebrate the 4yr. anniversary of the end of

the Destiny War."

Having said this, she left kyria to her thoughts. Hitomi went to the library, made sure it was empty,

then closed the door behind her. She went straight to a bookshelf and took down a book. She opened it to a marked

page and read:

'There will come a time of pain and suffering in which a girl will appear wth extroardinary powers.

She will either be the bringer of death or salvation. You will know the girl by 2 small wings symbolized

on her shoulder. This girl will be born on the Mystic moon. She will come to Gaea seeking refuge.

She will use her powers to either save or destroy Gaea.'

"That poor girl,"Hitomi said quietly.

Hitomi ran towards Van's study, burst into the room and quickly closed the door behind her. Van, sensing

and seeing that something was wrong, went up to her and enfolded her in his arms. Then he asked what was wrong.

In responce she handed him the book and pointed to the passage. Van read it and looked up puzzled.

"Kyria has the wings on her shoulder. I saw them."

She told Van everything that had happened earlier. When she was done, Van looked grim.

"Should we tell her," Van asked.

"No. It would just upset her. I want to go see her again later anyway. I want to ask her about me being

a Draconian and i want to help her get ready for the ball."

At the mention of the ball, Van paled visibly. Hitomi laughed.

"Did you forget about the ball," she teased.

"No," Van said defiantly. "I just hate wearing formal clothes!"

Hitomi laghed even harder. The indignant look on Van's face was priceless. Suddenly there was a knock on

the door. Hitomi stopped laghing but she was still laughing through the mind link. Van scowled at her, but said,

Enter. A maid entered, bowed, and said, "The lady Kyria requests the prescence pf both of you in her room."

"Thank you," Van said.

The maid bowed and left. Van and Hitomi went to Kyria's room. Hitomi knocked and they entered.

They found Kyria Petting Jake. She had something in her hand that looked like an energist. When they entered Kyria

looked up and smiled.

"Good you came. It's time for me to solve the problem of you not knowing who you really are. I'm gong to

use this energist to help you reopen those memories." She stood up. "I asked you here," she said to Van, "for 2

reasons. The first is moral support. The second is, you have a right to know this too. Now you two have to hold

hands and close your eyes. Don't open them until I tell you to or the connection will be broken."

After Hitomi and Van were holding hands and had their eyes closed, Kyria took the energist in both hands.

She put it against Hitomi's forehead and closed her eyes concentrating. The energist began to glow until it

enveloped the three of them. There was a flash, then the light vanished leaving the three exactly how they started.


	6. Hitomi's History

6. Hitomi's History

Van and Hitomi were standing in darkness, still holding hands.

"You can open your eyes now," Kyria said.

"Where are we," Van asked.

"We're inside her mind," Kyria said behind them. They turned around to see her looking at them.

"This won't be easy. Your family line begins shortly after the Draconians came to Gaea. You ended up on Earth

when your Grandma went there to protect her unborn child, your mother. She went to Earth because this was during

the time when Draconians were being persecuted. To make you fully comprehend whet your Grandma went through,

I'll have to show you. But before I do I'm going to warn you. You will feel everything she feels, But there won't

be any lasting effects. You will feel pain, heat, hope, sadness, anger, and possibly other things."

Kyria then held up the energist, which was still in her hand. The energist began to glow, then it flashed.

When the light vanished, there was a scene playing in front of them like a movie.

The first scene showed a woman and a man standing in a forest clearing, hugging. When they pulled apart,

they could see that the woman was pregnant.

"It's getting too dangerous," the man said.

"I don't want to leave you," The woman pleaded brokenly.

(Hitomi recognized the woman's voice as her Grandmother's, Sandra.)

"It won't be long. Just until things calm down," The man whispered hugging her to him.

"And if they don't?"

"If things don't calm down, Then I want you to go to the Mystic Moon where you will be safe. Just don't

show your wings. It's for your own good. Promise me you'll go when I tell you to."

Sandra nodded. There were tears streaming down her beautiful face. They hugged once more. When their wings

came out Van and Hitomi saw that they both had the royal markings! They flew away. End scene one.

"Who were they," Van asked.

"The woman," Hitomi answered. "Was my Grandmother. I don't know the man. And why did their wings have markings?"

"The man was her mate. And no you wouldn't know him, he's dead. And they had the markings because they were

the King and Queen. Which makes you the princess." Here the second scene started.

It started out in a village at night. The village was quiet and peaceful. But then Van and Hitomi noticed

men creeping through the trees toward the village carrying torches. When they reached the village they started

yelling and throwing the torches through the windows. They watched as the houses started to burn. Suddenly Van

and Hitomi noticed a man and a woman emerge from a house and run toward the woods. The man was injured though and

couldn't run very fast. He stumbled, hit the ground and cried out. The men hearing the cry turned, started yelling

and ran towards them. The two seeing them spouted their wings and took flight, but the men shot arrows at them.

A couple hit the man's wings causing him to fall. He looked at the woman.

"Go," he yelled to her. "You promised! Go!"

He pointed to the Mystic Moon. The men were coming closer, so with tears pouring down her face, she nodded.

She turned around and flew over the trees. Then she dived, landed, and pulled in her wings. Then using her pendant

she called the pillar of light to take her to the Mystic Moon. The men didn't see the pillar, they were too busy

dragging the struggling man back to the fire. There was a final scream, then the scene vanished.

A stunned Van looked over at Hitomi, only to find her on her knees crying. Van knelt down and gathered her

into his arms. He rocked her back and forth until her crying slowed and eventually stopped. Kyria came over and knelt down.

"It was horrible," Hitomi whispered

Even though she had started crying she had watched the whole thing.

"I know," Kyria said softly. "But there's one more scene she needs to see."

"Does she have to see it now," Van asked, still holding a quivering Hitomi.

"Yes, It's better to get this over with rather than wait."

She then put her hand on Hitomi's head. A light emitted from her hand. Hitomi's quivering stopped and

she sighed. Van looked down at her and saw surprisingly that she looked back to normal. Kyria took her hand away and backed up.

"I've taken some of the pain away so you feel well enough to see more." With that the third and final scene started.

Hitomi recognized this one. She was five yrs. old at the time. Her mother and Grandmother were sitting

under a tree talking. Hitomi was playing in the yard.

"When do you think we should tell her the truth," Hitomi's mother asked.

"I think we should let her find out for herself. After she finds her wings, we'll tell her the truth.

But before that I'm going to give her my pendant she may need it. Somehow I know that she will find her way back

to Gaea, and that she's going to find her one true love," Sandra said thoughtfully.

"What if she doesn't find out the truth on her own?"

"If she hasn't discovered her wings by the time she's 16, we'll tell her."

Sandra called Hitomi over, and gave her the pendant. She told Hitomi to wear it every day, for one day

she would need it. The scene vanished.

Kyria looked over at Hitomi to see how she was holding up. Hitomi looked sad.

"I remember that day. Til' now I didn't know what they had talked about. But I always remembered that day

because it was the day I got my pendant."

She unconsciously put her hand over the spot where her

pendant would have been. Noticing this Van pulled her closer to him to comfort her.

"When you returned from Gaea the first time they decided to wait until just before you came back. On her

way to tell you, Sandra had a car accident and died. I can't do anymore. Finding your wings will be up to you.

Van can help you as I know he will," Kyria told them.

"I'm still finding it hard to believe that I'm a Draconian. Just like you," She said this last part to Van.

"Actually, you aren't just like him. Neither am I for that matter. It's true the two of you are half-bloods,

but you and I are more powerful than him. You still have hidden powers that haven't revealed themselves yet," Kyria said.

"Can you tell me what some of my new powers will be?"

"I can tell you a few. You will be able to use telepathy with other people not just Van. You'll also be

able to use telekineses, read minds by going into them and heal. To name a few. After your new powers reveal

themselves you'll have to learn to use them. Now I think it's time for us to go back. Hold hands and close your

eyes." They did as they were told and waited. "You can open your eyes now."

They opened their eyes and saw that they were back in Kyria's room.


	7. Flying Lessons

7. Flying Lessons

After Van and Hitomi opened their eyes they saw Kyria on her knees panting. Hitomi went over to her and knelt down.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. Just exhausted. I've never done that for so long and certainly not for an hour."

"We were in my mind for an hour!"

"You two better get going. It's probably time for the ball. I think I'll just go to bed. I'm too tired to do anything."

Van and Hitomi said goodnight, then walked out and closed the door.

"I'll try to take the morning off. I know this great place we can go to get your wings out," Van said enthusiastically as they went to their room to change.

Hitomi's eyes were fairly dancing. She was so excited she could hardly wait.

. . . . The Next Morning . . . .

Kyria woke up the next morning to find a note on her bedside table.

'Kyria,

Van and I are going somewhere private to try to get my wings out. If you want to come, meet us at the stables before 9. You will get to fly and stretch out your wings.

Hitomi'

Kyria smiled. To fly and stretch her wings sounded wonderful. She quickly changed, fed Jake, and ran to the stables. She found Van and Hitomi getting ready to leave. They had a horse all ready for her. A few minutes later they left. As they neared the top of the cliff Kyria went faster, then she stopped and tied her horse to a tree. She took a running jump off the cliff. Her wings burst from her back as she soared out over the trees. When she came back up she saw that the other two had reached the top and were now watching her. They saw how happy she was. She landed in front of them and folded her wings a little. She had a huge smile on her face.

"Thank you for inviting me."

"Your welcome," Hitomi answered. "I thought you might like to be able to fly again."

"I love it! I haven't flown for three weeks! I was starting to miss it. Thank you."

With that she took off again. Van took off his shirt, handed it to Hitomi, and let his own wings out. Then he turned to Hitomi.

"Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"First let's see if you can get them out yourself. Just close your eyes and imagine them growing out of your back. If it doesn't work I'll have to teach you the way that my mother taught me. Go ahead and try it."

Hitomi closed her eyes and concentrated. She imagined wings growing from her back. After a minute of nothing she opened her eyes.

"Nothing."

"Then we'll try the other way. Now what I want you to do is to jump off the cliff and imagine your wings coming out. And don't worry, if it doesn't work I'll catch you. OK?"

"Are you sure there's no other way?"

Van laughed. He could feel Hitomi's anxiety. He looked at her smiling.

"Be glad I'm telling you. My mother just pushed me with no warning. It worked of course, but I thought to let you do it a little differently."

Van was smiling. Hitomi was still anxious.

"I don't want to do this, but I trust you," She said.

Van jumped off the cliff to wait, hoping that this would work. Hitomi closed her eyes and kept telling herself not to looked down or scream. She started imagining her wings coming out then took a running jump off the cliff so she wouldn't hit the cliff wall. She kept imagining, hoping with all her might that this would work. A few seconds later she felt a tingling sensation in her back. With a scream her wings burst forth. Then her descent stopped. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed that she was still in midair. She looked behind her and saw wings, HER wings!

'It worked,' she thought triumphantly.

There was what sounded like a whoop coming from below her. She looked down to see Van flying to her with a huge smile on his face. Minding her wings, he grabbed her into a hug and spun her around.

"You did it!!"

He was positively jubilant! The only other time that she'd seen him this happy was when she agreed to marry him. He took her back up to the cliff top and set her down. Her wings were sagging slightly from the effort of keeping her up. Her wings after all were new and therefore weak.

"I can't believe I actually did it," Hitomi said softly as she sat down.

"We believe it," Kyria said as she and Van sat down next to her. "After all we saw you do it. And the proof is on your back. Also take a look at your wings. You have the markings too."

"Now lets get you practicing on how to call your wings whenever you need them," Van said. It won't be easy. Since this is your first time you'll get worn out quickly. But you'll get used to it as time goes on. Then if you want we can practice flying. One of us will come up here every day so you can practice. But only in the morning. You do have duties now and I'd like to spend time with you."

He was looking lovingly at Hitomi, who was smiling.

"Now then are you ready to start," Van asked standing up.

Kyria stood up too, then went off flying again. Hitomi watched her happy.

"She really enjoys flying," Hitomi said as she took Van's offered hand to stand up.

"Yeah she does. Now to get your wings in, exactly the same as letting them out except you imagine them going back into your body like you've seen mine."

Hitomi did as she was told and after a few seconds felt the tingling again. She concentrated on it and felt her wings disappear.

"Good job," Van praised her. "Now let's try again. Let them out then pull them back in. It'll get easier the more you do it. Eventually you'll be able to get them out just by willing it. Now go ahead, let them out."

She did so and discovered that it was easier now. Then she pulled them back in. Van praised her again. She practiced for another hour then they started on flying. Van stayed with her through most of it, but at times let her do it herself. After several more hours she pulled in her wings one last time. Then she collapsed on top of the cliff panting, but she was smiling. It was nearly lunch time so they got on their horses and started off. Hitomi was riding with Van in case she fell asleep, which she did. With her asleep on him they rode back to the palace.


	8. Sunset Dinner

A/N I'm going to TRY to upload once a week. key word there: try. Hope your enjoying the story even though I know it sucks.

A/N I'm staying at my G'ma's for about 2-3 more months so I don't know when I will be able to update again. The laptop I was using got left at home. Sorry. I will update as soon as I am able. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews.

A/N The last chapter and this one were already saved and ready for upload that is the only reason I am able to give these to you. Hope to update soon. If not i'm sorry.

8. Sunset Dinner

When they got back to the palace, Van carried Hitomi up to their room and laid her on the bed. He looked at her. She looked like a perfect angel. Thinking that reminded him of the first time she saw his wings. He had expected her to run away screaming like others had. But she didn't. She had called him an angel. She was the only one that had ever said that and wasn't afraid. It's also how she came up with her nickname for him: My Angel. Van smiled. He was so glad she had come back to him. He wished he could climb in bed with her, but he had duties to attend to. So did she, but Van decided to let her take the day off. Then he had an idea. He would plan a romantic evening dinner for her as a reward for how well she did. He smiled again at this thought and left his sleeping angel to rest.

. . . . Elsewhere in Zaibach . . . .

"My lady," A man yelled bursting through the doors.

He quickly bowed, then looked up and gave his news.

"My lady, I have discovered something about the seer. She is a royal Draconian! I saw her with the dragon and another woman on top of a cliff. I also heard that she will come back every morning to strengthen her wings. But the Dragon won't be with her every day. The woman will be with her on some days starting tomorrow. This other woman though is also of royal Draconian blood. I saw the markings. Does this change anything?"

"No," The Lady said. "It doesn't change anything. Good work. You have done well. Tell Dilandau to go to that cliff tomorrow and kill this other woman, but bring the seer to me alive. Now go!"

"Yes, My Lady," the man bowed again and left.

. . . . Back in Fanelia . . . .

Several hours later Hitomi woke up to find herself in bed. She smiled.

'Van must have carried me up here. I don't remember leaving the mountain. I must have fallen asleep,' Hitomi thought.

The door opened slowly. Hitomi looked over to see Van standing in the doorway. She smiled.

"Evening sleepy head," he said teasingly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep," She said sheepishly.

A blush crept onto her face, causing Van to laugh.

"You look so cute when you blush," He told her.

Hitomi's blush deepened, causing Van to laugh more. She threw a pillow at him trying not to smile. The pillow caught Van in the face because he didn't see it coming, he was laughing so hard. The shocked expression on his face caused Hitomi to break down and start laughing. Van joined her as he threw the pillow back. Thus began the pillow fight, which lasted several minutes before they both collapsed, giggling. Then they kissed.

"We should save this for tonight," he said. "I came to tell you to get changed. I have a surprise waiting on the roof. I'll go make sure everything is set. I'll met you at the bottom of the stairs in a few minutes."

He got up and left. Hitomi wondered what the surprise was. She quickly changed and was surprised to find a blue pendant like the one she gave Van, along with a note lying on her dresser. This is what the note said:

'My Dearest Angel,

This pendant belonged to my mother and now I want you to have it. Please wear it tonight.

Van'

Hitomi smiled while putting her new pendant on. Then she went to meet Van. She found him at the bottom of the stairs waiting. He smiled when he saw her. She was beautiful. She was wearing an emerald green dress that matched her eyes beautifully. Her hair, which reached the middle of her back, was down and shiny. She had shoes that matched her dress. She also had on the blue pendant, which seemed to glow. Van picked her up, told her to close her eyes, released his wings and flew up to the roof. He set her down, led her to a spot on the roof and told her to open her eyes. She gasped. They were on a flat part of the roof that overlooked Fanelia. In front of her on the roof were two candles and enough food to feed 4 people. Hitomi looked over at Van, who was watching her reaction. She smiled.

"It's beautiful."

"I was hoping you would like it. I planned this as a reward for you. You deserve it. And I wanted to spend some more time with you. Merle and Kyria got everything ready while I worked. And don't worry, we were fine without you for one afternoon."

"What was Kyria doing after we got back," Hitomi asked.

"She checked on Jake after we got back. She is so protective of him. After that though she helped Merle get everything ready. Then she went to the Library."

"I hope she doesn't find that book,"

"Don't worry. I put it in our room. Come on, let's eat."

Hitomi smiled. Then she kissed Van on the cheek and sat down. While they ate they watched the people in Fanelia. Then they just sat together and watched the sunset. Then Hitomi said something completely unexpected.

"Van, I'm pregnant," Hitomi said cautiously.

It had taken her awhile to get the courage to tell him. Now that she had Van was staring at her in shock.

"When did you find out?"

"Last week when Millerna did her regular checkup."

Flashback

"Hitomi, how have you been feeling lately."

"Fine, why."

"Have you been getting sick in the mornings?"

"Every morning for a few weeks now. Van doesn't know yet. How did you know?"

"It's called morning sickness. I've had it too. But it means something wonderful. You're pregnant!"

Hitomi's mouth dropped open in shock. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Pregnant!?

"For how long?"

"About two cycles(months). I'll come back next month with the proper equipment. (don't know what they have). Meanwhile here's instructions on how to take care of yourself while your pregnant. Congratulations!"

End Flashback

"I didn't tell you right away because I wanted it to be a surprise. But I just couldn't keep it in any longer. Also our baby will be 3/4 draconian since were both half- bloods (not sure)."

By now Van had gotten over his shock and was smiling broadly. He was going to be a father!

"Your right. When are you expecting?"

"Not for at least seven more cycles. It's getting late we should go to bed."

The sun had indeed set. Van was about to say something then nodded. He picked her up causing her to giggle, and carried her back down to bed. As he put her on the bed her pendant began to glow. Knowing what was happening Van grabbed Hitomi's hand. Hitomi, who understood what it meant, gripped his hand.

Vision

As Hitomi was engulfed by darkness, she noticed her hand was still clasped by Van's. She was glad that Van had come with her. As the vision started, Hitomi's grip on Van's hand tightened.

The vision started with Hitomi and Kyria on the cliff. Kyria was helping Hitomi learn to fly. When they landed and had pulled in their wings, they sat down their backs to the trees. Then a man snuck up behind them.

(Van and Hitomi gasped. They knew that face only too well. It was Dilandau.)

He snuck up on Kyria and swiftly brought his sword down for the kill.

(Hitomi turned away. She couldn't watch. Van however saw everything.)

When Kyria dropped to the ground dead, Hitomi shrieked. She jumped up and started to back away, but Dilandau caught her and knocked her out. He picked her up and ran into the forest.

End Vision

After they came out of the vision, Van discovered Hitomi

crying on his shoulder and he was holding her. He didn't have the heart to tell her what she'd missed. Then he had an idea. He would follow them secretly and fight Dilandau while Hitomi and Kyria flew away. After they started flying Van would follow. Van waited for Hitomi to calm down before telling her his idea. She agreed as long as he was careful and would follow them, not stay and fight. Van promised, smiling. Then they went off to talk to Kyria and tell her the plan.


	9. Dilandau

A/N I'm giving you two chapters early since it's Christmas. ThenI will go back to updating once a week. Thank you for all the support.

9. Dilandau

After hearing of the vision and the plan. Kyria thought that it was a good plan.

"When do you think this is going to happen," Kyria asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Hitomi answered.

"Well why do we have to go at all then? Why not just not go," Kyria asked.

"We want to confront Dilandau, and hopefully get information from him, like who's behind all this," Van explained.

"Well we better get some sleep then. We have a busy morning tomorrow," Kyria sighed.

The other two agreed and said goodnight. After they left, Kyria sat on her bed and started petting Jake. Jake, who seemed to know that something was wrong, got up and laid down in Kyria's lap purring. Kyria then started talking to him as if he understood.

"It's a good idea, but something is telling me that the plan is going to go horribly wrong. That something is going happen. But how do I tell them that?"

She sighed, and decided to tell them in the morning. She blew out her candle and went to bed.

. . . . Elsewhere at the same time . . . .

"Is something wrong," Van asked Hitomi.

"I think Kyria is hiding something and it involves the plan," Hitomi said sighing.

"How do you know?"

"I'm not sure, but I seem to be able to sense it. Maybe it has something to with my new powers. Maybe one of them is being able to tell when someone is hiding something."

"Well if your right, how are we going to get her to tell us?"

"I don't know. Maybe she'll tell us in the morning."

"I hope your right. We need to know who's behind this.."

With that said they went to bed. Little did they know that the night wasn't over yet. Soon after they fell asleep, Hitomi's pendant began to glow.

Vision

Hitomi was floating above a cliff. She recognized it as the one she had been to that morning. Now she saw herself and Kyria standing watching a fight. On closer inspection she saw that it was Van and Dilandau. But something was wrong. Van was

injured and he was losing. Kyria was trying to pull a horrified

Hitomi toward the cliff, but she wasn't moving. Then something really horrible happened. Dilandau's sword went straight through Van's stomach. He fell to the ground dead.

Vision End

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

The cry echoed throughout the room as Hitomi bolted up, Tears streaming down her face. Hitomi's scream had awakened Van. As he sat up he saw her crying and instantly knew she had had a vision, and a rather distressing one by the looks of it. He moved over to sit next to her and held her while she cried. She grabbed hold of him as if she was afraid he would disappear if she let go. She was still sobbing rather hard. Van held her while he waited for her crying to stop. After several minutes Hitomi finally stopped crying. She was still trembling badly though. After she had calmed down enough, she told him what she had seen. Van saw everything in her mind as she relived. By the time she was done, she was trembling again. Van was shocked and speechless. Finally he decided something.

"If that's what's going to happen," he began slowly. "Then we just won't go. Will that make you happy?"

Hitomi nodded. She was still in Van's arm. They stayed like this for quite a while. When Van looked down at Hitomi, he discovered that she was asleep. He gently laid her back down and covered her up. Then he fell back to sleep himself. They would tell Kyria in the morning that the plan was off. They would not go.

The next morning they told Kyria that the plan was off, and the reason why. They weren't surprised that she seemed to have known that something would go wrong. Everyone agreed not to got to the cliff. That afternoon after lunch, Hitomi was walking toward EscaFlowne's shrine. She wanted to be alone to think.

Just before she reached the shrine she sensed that she was being watched. She suddenly remembered what Kyria had said about the plot to kidnap her. As she turned around to head back to the palace, Dilandau stepped out of the trees smirking. Hitomi backed away getting ready to run since she still couldn't fly. As Dilandau walked toward her, Hitomi decided to call Van with the mind link.

'Van! I need help! Dilandau is here'

Meanwhile Van was in a meeting with his advisers when he suddenly felt terrified. He knew that it was Hitomi because the fear wasn't related to what he was doing. He was just about to call her through the link when her voice sounded in his head. After hearing that Dilandau was hear, he understood Hitomi's terror. He quickly left the meeting saying that he would explain later. He ran to the nearest balcony and jumped out, wings erupting from his back and tearing his shirt. Van dowsed in his mind and followed the Pendant's direction. He flew in that direction until he saw them. Hitomi kept taking steps back, while Dilandau kept advancing and seemed to be taunting her.

Dilandau was enjoying scaring her. He was just about to start up again when he heard something behind him. Turning around he saw Van heading straight for him with his sword drawn. Dilandau just had time to draw his own sword to block Van's attack. Dilandau started smirking again.

"I was only supposed to get the Mystic Moon witch, but I knew that if I stayed here long enough you would show up. As an added bonus I get to kill you," Dilandau goaded gleefully.

As the two of them continued to attack, Hitomi was standing a little behind Van watching. Right now both were blocking

attacks and neither succeeding in harming the other. Suddenly

Dilandau saw an opening and attacked hitting Van's exposed arm. Van bit his lip to keep from crying out. Despite his wound he kept fighting, though quickly losing.

Seeing the blood caused something to snap inside Hitomi. She felt a power and a heat grow in her hand. Looking down she saw that she had unconsciously created a fire ball. She moved to stand behind Dilandau. She quickly focused on Dilandau's back and threw the fireball. It hit squarely causing Dilandau to cry out, more from surprise than pain. However the second of distraction was all Van needed. He quickly attacked causing severe damage to Dilandau's chest. Dilandau cried out again this time from pain. This allowed Van time to retreat back to Hitomi, who had moved back behind Van and was now staring at her hand astonished. She couldn't believe she had just done that. Kyria hadn't said anything about her powers being dangerous. She didn't have time to dwell on this though, because Van had just grabbed her and flown away leaving a wounded Dilandau behind.

A few minutes later Van landed on their balcony and set Hitomi down. She remained quiet still contemplating what she had done. Van hadn't seen what she did. He just knew that she had done something to distract Dilandau. He asked her what had happened.

"What did you do?"

"I'm not sure. After you got hurt, something changed inside me. I think one of my powers revealed itself. It created a small flame in my hand. I seemed to instinctively know what to do. Anyway I just focused on Dilandau and threw the flame. It didn't hurt him, it was too small. But still, it worked. You won."

Hitomi held up her hand to look at it. She was till confused and even a little scared. Sensing this, Van went up to her and held her. She leaned against him for comfort.

"Kyria didn't say anything about my powers being dangerous."

"Maybe she didn't know or didn't want to scare you," Van replied gently.

"I'm going to ask her."


	10. Fight and Makeup

10. Fight and Makeup

They went to find Kyria and found her in the Library reading a book on Draconians. When she saw them she marked her place and closed the book.

"We came to ask you why you didn't tell me that some of my new powers would be dangerous," Hitomi said tensely. The memory of what she had done was still fresh in her mind and she didn't like it.

Kyria shook her head. "I didn't know," She said guiltily. "If I had I would have warned you. Which one did you get that is dangerous?"

"This," Hitomi said acidly.

She brought her hand up and concentrated on forming the flame. When it formed it was slightly larger than before. Van stared at it astonished. Then Hitomi closed her hand quenching the flame. It didn't even burn it just felt warm.

"Well, at least your learning to control it," Kyria said softly.

She was afraid of making Hitomi mad. Hitomi walked over to the window and looked out at the landscape. She sighed. She wasn't mad, just confused. Yes, she could control it, but what other powers did she have that were dangerous? She hoped none.

Van, seeing and sensing that she was still upset, went over to her and held her. The wound on his arm, which hadn't been cleaned yet but had stopped bleeding, was starting to sting. Van ignored it. This was much more important. Suddenly Kyria sighed startling the other two.

"Your not the only one with dangerous powers," Kyria whispered softly.

She lifted her hand and formed a flame exactly like Hitomi's except 3x the size. It flickered in her hand for a moment before she closed her hand quenching it.

That was exactly like yours except more powerful and more dangerous. With practice yours will be like that. I have other dangerous powers that hopefully you don't have. Some of them I still have trouble controlling. I need more practice." That's when she noticed Van's wound. "What happened to your arm?"

That was when Hitomi remembered the wound and felt guilty. She had been so upset after discovering her new power, that she had forgotten. After quickly telling Kyria what had happened, Hitomi dragged Van off so she could clean his arm before it became infected.

An hour later found Hitomi outside the library again. She opened the door and walked in glad that Kyria was still there. She was again absorbed in the book on Draconians. When Hitomi walked in Kyria put her book down.

"Will you teach me how to use my powers?"

"I knew you were going to ask that, and yes I'll teach you. Come on let's go to the archery field. We need a target. Where's Van?"

"He went to explain to his advisers why he let so suddenly. He knows how to find me if he needs me. Come on, Let's go get the target." With that they left the library.

Half- an- hour later Van was looking for Hitomi. When he didn't find her in her usual spots, he decided on another method. He pictured the pendant in his mind and focused on an image of Hitomi. The pendant pointed in the direction of the training yard. Van went out there confused as to why she would be out there. Then he saw a ball of flame hit a target. That's when he understood. She was practicing. He decided to watch, so he hid behind a tree so he wouldn't distract her.

"How was that," Hitomi asked.

"Better, You still need improvement though. We'll do some more and then go in. You must be getting tired," Kyria told her.

"Yeah, but I'm not ready to quit. I can't depend on Van to take care of me forever. I need to learn to take care of myself."

Van was shocked at hearing this. He had never expected this, especially not from Hitomi. Then he heard something that shocked him even more.

"Why don't you ask him to teach you how to use a sword or bow," Kyria suggested.

"I'd like to but he'll object to my learning to use a sword. I don't know what he'll say to my using a bow. He knows that I hate violence."

"Why don't you tell him what you just told me, about defending yourself."

She threw another fireball at the target, hitting it squarely. Van saw the flame and noticed that it was larger than before when he first saw it in the library. He was amazed that Hitomi felt this way. He never knew. He decided then that he would teach her to use a sword himself. They weren't done talking though, so he went back to listening.

"Do you want me to talk to him for you?"

"No, I'll ask him and see what he says. If he says no, I'll tell him my reasons for asking. If he still says no, I'll let you talk to him. If that doesn't work then I'll resort to teaching myself. It'll take longer, but I'll do it."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'm desperate."

"Wow you must be to resort to teaching yourself."

"I am. Come on let's go in, I've had enough for now."

After they left Van slid down the trunk of the tree to the grass. He couldn't believe what he had just heard! She would actually try to teach herself if he said no. He had already decided to teach her himself, but hearing this just made him even more determined. He would train her until she was as good him, if not better. Having decided this he went back in the palace. He headed for their room thinking Hitomi might want to freshen up after practice. On his way there he met Kyria. She was on her way to her own room after leaving Hitomi at hers. When she saw him she stopped.

"You might want to let her cool off before you go see her. Oh, and don't mention anything that you heard us saying. Yes, I know you were there. I could sense you. Anyway I know that you've decided to teach her, but you might want to think of a good excuse to tell her or she might get suspicious. Be careful what you say to her. Our conversation got her pretty wound up. Now I'm going to go freshen up. Teaching her wasn't easy, although she caught on fast. Well, see you later. Oh, if she seems to know that you were there or if your hiding something, tell her the truth, but be gentle."

With that she was gone, Leaving Van to his thoughts. Van went up to the roof, it was his favorite thinking spot. He knew Hitomi would find him eventually. Meanwhile, though he could think of an excuse to tell her. After thinking for a while, he came up with an idea and hoping it would work. He kept going over it in his mind in hopes that he sounded convincing. After being on the roof for an hour, Van heard footsteps on the stairs leading to the roof. He knew that it was Hitomi, because only she and Merle came to the roof besides him. Merle was shopping right now though. As Hitomi stepped out onto the roof, Van thought, 'Here we go.'

When Hitomi stepped out onto the roof she looked around for Van and saw him sitting where they had had their picnic dinner. He looked like he was deep in thought. When he looked over at her he looked a little pale. She wondered why. She went over and sat next to him. He looked like he was struggling to say something. Just when she was about to break the silence, he spoke.

"Do you want to learn to use the sword and bow?"

Even though he knew the answer, it was part of his plan. She looked shocked at his question. She had been about to ask if she could. His question gave her hope but also suspicion. Did he know or was it something else? She decided to answer and find out what was going on.

"Yes, I was about to ask if I could. But how did you know?"

"I didn't. But if you want to I'll teach you. I can't always be around to protect you. And you don't seem to like your powers."

"Not the dangerous ones, no"

She was still suspicious and Van knew it. He had no choice but to keep going though.

"Well I'll teach you if you want me to."

All this time he had been looking out over Fanelia, refusing to look at her. She seemed to know this and was curious why. He wondered why she didn't say anything about it. She also seemed to know that he was hiding something. It was making Van nervous. She finally answered his question though.

"I'd love to have you teach me, but first . . . tell me what your hiding. If you don't tell me, I'll find out my own way."

He knew what she meant. She would look into his mind. He had no choice but to tell her the truth. As he expected she was angry, while he felt ashamed. He knew he deserved it, but that didn't make it any easier to take her lecture. As she kept up her lecture about him being irresponsible, an eavesdropper, and above all a liar, he tried to defend himself by saying that he had just wanted to watch her practice. He had not intended to eavesdrop. He knew it was no good. After all he HAD listened to what they were saying, even if at first it was unintentional. He was feeling extremely guilty. He was starting to wish he could sink through the roof and escape. This lecture was, to be honest, much more than he expected. He had expected to be slapped and have her run away from him.

As Hitomi paused for breath, Van closed his eyes tight. Then suddenly a tear escaped his eye. That is how bad he felt. So unexpected was this sudden show of emotion that it caused Hitomi to pause again, this time in astonishment. This was the last thing she had expected. Seeing it though made her search Van's feelings. She saw how bad he felt and she could feel his guilt and ashamed feelings. She decided she had said enough. Then she stepped closer, slapped him and stormed away. She wasn't angry anymore after seeing and feeling how Van felt, but she wanted him to think she was.

Van meanwhile was still sitting on the roof. He knew Hitomi wasn't mad anymore. He could feel it. That didn't change the fact that he still felt bad. Suddenly his wings sprang from his back, tearing his shirt to shreds. He jumped off the roof and headed for his own secret place. Merle and Hitomi didn't even know about this place. Van landed and went over to the lake that was there. He had named it 'Angel Lake.' He dove in. Almost an hour later he got out and laid down on the grass looking at the sky, which was beginning to darken. He would have to go back soon.

Hitomi meanwhile was sitting on their balcony looking at the sky. She was beginning to wonder where Van was. She had gone back up to the roof to try to get him to come eat supper. She found the roof empty except for some feathers and a torn shirt. All of this told her that he had gone flying. She didn't blame him. She had overdone it a bit with her lecture. She had eaten supper with Merle and Kyria. Now she was sitting on the balcony waiting for Van to come back.

After sitting on the balcony for about an hour, she saw a white speck in the sky heading her way. After another minute she saw that it was Van, as she had suspected. Van flew down to the balcony and landed in front of her leaving his wings open. After a minute of silence in which Hitomi was looking over Van's Majestic wings, Van opened his arms asking permission and forgiveness. Having forgiven him already, Hitomi went willingly into his embrace. With a mighty flap of his wings, He lifted her into the air. Hitomi then released her own wings, and hands clasped together they flew side-by-side into the night.


	11. First sword lessons, Running contest

11. First Sword Lessons/ Running Contest

The next morning found the two of them lying in the grass by 'Angel lake.' Van had brought Hitomi here the night before and had made love with her. Now they were both sleeping in each other's arms. The suns rays broke through the trees and hit Hitomi full in the face causing her to wince and turn away from it. Then she remembered what had happened the night before and smiled. She turned around and saw that Van was still asleep. Her smile broadened. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. She moved some stray hair away from his face causing him to smile. She pulled her hand away and Van spoke.

"Don't stop. It felt good."

Hitomi smiled again and started running her fingers through his unruly hair. After a while she spoke.

"I'm going to get dressed. We have to head back soon or people will wonder what happened to us."

She got up and got dressed. When she was done she saw that Van had gotten dressed as well (minus the shirt). She walked over to him, kissed him, and smiled.

"Good morning, My Angel."

Van smiled at the nickname. Suddenly he picked her up and jumped, wings erupting from his back.

"You don't have to carry me, you know."

"I don't want anyone to see your wings."

After landing on their balcony, they quickly changed and went down to breakfast. People asked where they had been, but they just smiled. They did however tell Merle and Kyria, but only after much pestering on Merle's part. Kyria hadn't even asked, saying that it was their own business.

. . . Meanwhile in Zaibach . . .

"I'm sorry, My Lady. They didn't come to the mountain so I assumed the seer had a vision of it and warned the Dragon. I went to the Palace in the hopes of getting the seer for you. Luck seemed to be with me for on my way I saw her on a path by herself. I confronted her and was about to take her when the Dragon showed up. I fought him and seemed to be winning when something hit my back. It surprised me for a second but in that second the Dragon attacked me. He then flew off with the seer. I failed. Forgive me. You know many things, do you know what hit me?" (Suck up! HAHAHA/ Sorry that just popped into my head when I was writing this.)

"Yes," she hissed. "The seer has discovered another one of her powers. A ball of flame is what hit you. She was inexperienced so it did no damage. But it was enough to distract you. This news tells me that the seer is finding her new powers. We must get her before she discovers any more. Go! I must think."

Dilandau did as he was told but inside he was seething. He hated being told what to do. But this woman, this sorceress, Marianna, held his life in her hands. She gave him his life back and she could take it away just as easy. He couldn't cross her if he wanted to live. After all she was a very powerful sorceress. He had no choice but to obey her. He walked off to the training area to train his dragon-slayers. She had revived them too. That was the one thing he was grateful for.

. . . Back in Fanelia . . .

Van found Hitomi sitting in the garden looking at the flowers. He went over and sat next to her.

"Do you still want to learn to use a sword?"

"Yes, why?"

"I have the training room ready. You don't have to do it now. I just thought I would tell you."

I'd like to do it now. Just let me change into something more appropriate. I'll meet you in the training room when I'm done."

With that she ran to their room to change. Five minutes later she met Van in the training room. He had two wooden swords in his hands. He handed her one. It felt surprisingly heavy, so Van gave her the other one, which was lighter but still slightly heavy.

"The first one I gave you was the same weight as mine. That one is the same weight as the one I was planning on making you. How does it feel?"

"Good. Why are they heavy though if they're wood?"

"It's a special wood that can be made heavy or light. Now let's start your training."

For the next several hours he worked her vigorously until she was exhausted. She was learning quickly though. He was planning on training her until she was as good if not better than him. That last thought amused him as he helped Hitomi back to their room.

Hitomi had found the training extremely difficult, but didn't complain. She wanted to prove to Van that she could do it. Now she just wanted to sleep, knew she needed to cleanup first, so with Van helping she got cleaned up and ready for bed. Van had cleaned up while helping her. Now he helped her in bed and climbed in beside her. He had scheduled the training for the time he did because he knew that Hitomi would be exhausted when done. In fact she was already sound asleep. He smiled then fell asleep himself.

The next morning Hitomi woke up earlier than usual. Her muscles felt sore and cramped, so she decided to go for a run. She hoped it would however was still sound asleep and had his arms around her. She gently tried to disentangle herself from his arms which only caused his hold on her to tighten. Hitomi sighed, rolled around to face him and saw that he was still asleep. Hitomi sighed again. She wouldn't be able to get out of his arms while he was still asleep, but she didn't want to wake him up. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. She figured she would wait for him to wake up, but instead she fell back to sleep waiting.

An hour later she awoke to the feel of someone messing with her hair. She smiled, she knew that it was Van. She opened her eyes to see Auburn eyes looking at her. She would have felt really happy, but her muscles seemed to scream at her for a stretch. She kissed Van, then got up, ignoring his protests.

"I'm going for a run this morning, to stretch out my muscles. They're cramped because I didn't stretch yesterday before training. I would have gone a while ago, but you were still asleep. You want to come with me?"

"If my advisers don't have anything planned for me, then yes, I will join you. If I can't though ask Merle."

"I was planning on asking her anyway. She'd claw me to death if she discovered that I went running without asking her."

Van laughed. He knew she was exaggerating a little. He also knew that Merle would have a fit if she wasn't asked. His thoughts were interrupted when Hitomi walked over to him. She sat down, put her arms around his neck, and leaned in to kiss him. Van also leaned into the kiss. It was passionate and sweet, but not very long. After they broke apart, Hitomi ran her finger down his cheek.

"I'll go talk to Merle, while you get dressed. We'll meet up for breakfast. Talk to your advisers and see what they have planned."

With a final kiss, she left to find Merle. As she passed Kyria's room, she decided to ask her if she wanted to join them. She knocked on the door and waited. The door opened to reveal a tired looking Kyria.

"Morning, I was wondering if you would like to go for a run with me, Merle, and maybe Van. He has to ask his advisers if they have any plans. Do you want to join us?"

The sleepy look on Kyria's face vanished and was replaced with a smile.

"Sure, just let me get dressed."

"We're not going now. I have to ask Merle, then we're going to breakfast."

"Ok. I'll meet you for breakfast then."

Kyria closed the door and Hitomi went on to Merla's room. Just as she was about to reach Merle's door, it opened and Merle came out on her way to breakfast. Hitomi caught up to her and walked with her.

"Morning Merle, Kyria and I and maybe Van are going for a run after breakfast. Would you like to join us?"

"I'd love to! But how would Lord Van be able to go?"

"He's going to talk to his advisers and see if they have anything planned. He'll tell us at breakfast."

"Then let's go!"

Just as Merle was about to drag Hitomi down to breakfast, Kyria came out of her room and joined them. The three went down to breakfast together. Van wasn't there when they arrived, so they sat down to wait. Five minutes later he came in and sat down. He had just had an argument with his advisers and it hadn't ended pleasantly. He did have good news though which he told to them.

"I can go with you. It wasn't easy though. When I asked them if they had anything planned they became suspicious. They told me no, they didn't. Then they asked why. I told them. That's when the trouble started. They said a King should not be playing childish games, he had more important matters to attend to. I lost my temper at that and yelled at them. I finally won but it wasn't pleasant at all. But at least I'm going."

He stopped here because the food arrived. Everyone was looking a little shocked. They hadn't expected this, least of all Hitomi. The advisers knew how important running was to her. She decided to have a talk with them and give them a piece of her mind. But for now she would eat then run.

An hour later Van and Kyria were watching Hitomi and Merle go through the stretch motions. Then they tried to copy them. After everyone was done, Hitomi's muscles felt better so they all started jogging. Almost everyone was trying to copy Hitomi. When they had almost reached a field that Hitomi liked to run in, they slowed down to a walk. When the field came into view, Hitomi stopped. The field now had a strip down the middle. Hitomi walked over to it and saw that it was 150 meters. There were even starting blocks at each end. Hitomi turned around and looked at Van, who was watching her to see if she liked it. Suddenly she threw herself at Van knocking him over. She hugged him tightly, then helped him stand up. She looked at him with a smile that could light the night.

"It's wonderful! When did you do it?"

"About a week ago. I had it made as a birthday present. I'm glad you like it."

"But my birthday isn't for a few more weeks."

"I know. But I wanted this to be done before your birthday."

"Thank you."

She kissed him. Then she took off the pendant Van gave her and handed it to him. He took it looking puzzled.

"I want you to time me."

Van nodded his understanding. Hitomi took her place at the starting block. When she was ready, Van yelled," Ready, set, GO!." At go he released the pendant letting it swing.

They spent the rest of the morning taking turns running. This was the score:

Hitomi: 10 swings

Merle: 14 swings

Van: 15 swings

Kyria: 25 swings

When Kyria was done she collapsed on the ground panting. She had never run that far before and she was utterly exhausted. Hitomi giggled lightly.

"I take it you've never run this far or fast, have you?"

"No."

"Well, you can rest for a while then we can go. I want you to jog for as long as you can, then you can walk to cool off. We'll meet you back at the palace."

After Kyria had caught her breath, she got up and everyone started jogging. Halfway back, she slowed to a walk. She let the others go ahead. When she reached the palace, she saw the others stretching again. So she sat down and stretched as well. When she was done she felt a little better but she needed a drink. Hitomi led the way to the garden where a servant was waiting with water.

"Don't drink too fast or you'll get a cramp."

They all sat down to drink their water. Hitomi stretched out on the grass and sighed.

"That run was more refreshing than I thought it would be. I think I'll try to do it every morning for a while. Anyone who wants to can join me if they can."

"Count me in," Merle said grinning.

"Me too. It'll do me some good," Kyria said.

"I'd like to, but it depends on my morning schedule," Van said dejectedly. "When you go running though, I want you to take it easy. You don't want to exert yourself too much, especially in your condition."

"I know," Hitomi replied.

"We'll watch her," Merle promised him.

"Yeah," Kyria agreed. "We'll make sure she doesn't overdo it."

Van and Hitomi had told them the morning after Van had found out. So they knew that Hitomi was pregnant. Everyone finished their drinks and went inside. Little did they know that they were being watched, and that the spy had heard everything. With a smile he headed back to report to his mistress.

####

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed. Your reviews mean so much to me, and they inspire me. Thank you!

Next update in one week!


	12. Singing and Captured

A/N Sorry this wasn't on time. Thursday was cleaning day. Friday and Saturday My uncle was here visiting. So I forgot about the story. Again I'm sorry. :-(

12. Singing and Captured

. . . In Zaibach . . .

A man knocked on a door then entered, and bowed.

"My Mistress, I have been spying on the queen and her friends as you requested. I learned two things. The queen likes to run. She and her friends are going to start running every morning. I also know where they run to."

"Good work, Sander. What is the other thing?"

"The queen is pregnant!"

"Do you know how far along she is?"

"No. But it can't be far, she wasn't showing yet."

Marianna smiled. This was indeed good news. If she could get ahold of that baby, She could raise it to hate baby would also be of Draconian blood. She looked back at Sander.

"This is indeed excellent news. You shall be rewarded for this. Leave me and send Dilandau in, but stay at the door. I will call you when I am done with him."

"Yes, My Mistress, and thank you."

The man bowed and backed out of the room. A few minutes later, Dilandau came in and bowed.

"What is it you want me to do?"

"I want you and Sander to get the queen. Sander will show you where to go. Try not to harm her. She is pregnant and I want the baby! If you fail again I will end your life."

"Yes, My Lady."

"Send Sander back in on your way out."

Dilandau bowed again and left the room. Thirty seconds later, Sander came back in and bowed.

"I want you to take Dilandau to where the Queen runs. Help him get her unharmed, and bring her to me."

"Yes, My Mistress."

"Now go, and bring her to me."

. . . Meanwhile in Fanelia . . .

Hitomi was wondering around the palace, bored. Van was in a meeting, and Merle & Kyria were in town. Finally after wandering around for a while, Hitomi decided to go get her discman and listen to it on the roof.

Meanwhile Van's meeting was almost over and he was getting desperate to leave. It was boring to sit there and listen to his advisers argue. Finally nearly half-an-hour later, Van's meeting was over. He decided to go find pendant swung upward toward the roof. Van ran up the steps two at a time, but slowed down when he heard singing. Hitomi was laying on her back, eyes closed, Discman next to her singing.

(This song belongs to Tricia Yearwood, and is called: How Do I?)

_How do I_

_Get through one night without you_

_If I had to live without you_

_What kind of life would that be_

_Oh I_

_I need you in my arms_

_Need you to hold_

_You're my world, my heart, my soul_

_If you ever leave_

_Baby you would take away everything good in my life_

_And tell me now_

_How do I live without you_

_I want to know_

_How do I breath without you_

_If you ever go_

_How do I ever_

_Ever survive_

_How do I _

_How do I_

_Oh how do I live_

_Without you_

_Ther'd be no sun in my sky_

_There would be no love in my life_

_There'd be no world left for me_

_And now_

_Baby I don't know what I would do_

_I'd be lost if I lost you_

_If you ever leave Baby you would take away everything real in my life_

_And tell me now_

_How do I live without you_

_I want to know_

_How do I breath without you_

_If you ever go_

_How do I ever_

_Ever survive_

_How do I_

_How do I_

_O h how do I live_

_If you ever leave_

_Baby you would take away everything, need you in me_

_Baby I've come to know that your everything good in my life_

_And tell me now_

_How do I live without you_

_I want to know_

_How do I breath without you_

_If you ever go_

_How do I ever_

_Ever survive_

_How do I_

_How do I_

_Oh how do I live_

_Without you_

As Hitomi finished singing she suddenly sensed that she was being watched. She looked behind her and instantly blushed. Van was standing at the top of the stairs, looking at her, and smiling. 'Did he hear me sing,' Hitomi thought blushing crimson. Van came over and sat next to her. She quickly pulled the headphones out of her ears and turned off the discman.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed if someone hears you sing. You have a beautiful voice."

Hitomi was startled by this. No one except for Yukari and Amano liked her singing. She stopped singing in public because people made fun of her. Hitomi drew her knees to her chest, and put her chin on them. A tear suddenly escaped her eye. This shocked Van, who couldn't understand why she would be crying. He wiped the tear away and asked what was wrong. Hitomi sighed.

"The only people who have ever complimented my singing were Yukari, Amano and my family. Every one else made fun of me. Mainly because the songs I liked to sing were love songs. I stopped singing in public because I couldn't stand the ridicule. Now I miss my family and friends."

Van pulled her into a hug as she started crying again.

"If you miss them why don't you go visit?"

"Because I'd have to leave you."

"I could go with you. I need a vacation anyway. Why don't we ask Kyria to join us? Maybe she'd like to visit some people."

"Maybe. Though I doubt it would be her mother."

"So let's go ask her."

Van helped Hitomi stand up. Then they went down to talk to Kyria , who by this time had returned from town with Merle.

On the way down, Van was thinking about the song he had heard Hitomi singing. He wanted her to sing it again, but he wasn't sure if she would do it. She got so embarrassed when people heard her sing. Before he knew it they were standing in front of Kyria's door and Hitomi was knocking.

Kyria opened the door and let them in. All three sat down while Hitomi explained why they were there. Kyria was enthusiastic about going to visit the Mystic Moon. She had been thinking about going anyway for two reasons. The first was to get some more stuff for Jake. The second was that she thought that it was time to tell her father the truth. She didn't relish facing her mother though. They decided on a time to go and when. They would go in one week in the morning. That would give them plenty of time to prepare. Merle was going to be left in charge in their absence. They were going to start preparing the next day be telling Merle their plans. After everything was discussed, they all retired to bed.

The next morning the Van, Hitomi, Kyria, and Merle all met for breakfast before they went running. Van was able to go since Hitomi chewed his advisers out for calling running childish. After an intense argument, the advisers relented and Hitomi won. Van could go running if and only if he didn't have anything to do in the morning. Van of course knew nothing of this, though he had a pretty good idea. All he knew was that the advisers said that he could go if he didn't have anything to do in the morning. Naturally he didn't argue. Though he was suspicious as to why they relented so easily.

Van, Hitomi, and Kyria had agreed to tell Merle about their plans after they went running. Van and Hitomi knew she would be mad that she couldn't go.

After breakfast they all went outside to start stretching. Then they started running for the field. Little did they know that there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for them.

. . . Meanwhile at the field . . .

Two men were hiding in the trees waiting for Hitomi.

"When is she going to show up," Dilandau demanded impatiently.

"Soon."

A couple minutes later they heard footsteps approaching. Then four people came jogging into view. Sander felt Dilandau tense when he saw Van. Van though didn't have a sword so it wouldn't be a fair fight.

Everyone but Hitomi and Van sat down. Hitomi handed Van her pendant, then went to the starting block and got into position. At 'Go' Van let the pendant swing, and Hitomi shot off the blocks like an arrow. Dilandau and Sander got ready to pounce. After passing the finish line Hitomi stopped, turned around and was about to start jogging back when she suddenly sensed someone hiding in the trees. She could feel their aura and it was evil. She quickly formed the flame in her hand. She whirled around and threw it just as Dilandau and Sander jumped out of hiding. Hitomi's fireball just missed Dilandau and hit Sander's arm cried out in pain and fell to his knees. He looked at his arm and was surprised to see an ugly burn mark. Hitomi threw another fireball at Dilandau, which hit his shoulder, but only slowed him down a little. Hitomi whirled around and sprinted toward Van who was running toward her.

"Kyria, get Merle out of here," Van yelled to her.

By the time Van reached Hitomi, she had thrown another fireball at Dilandau. He dodged it though and kept coming. Van had no sword so the only thing he could think of doing was grabbing Hitomi and flying away. Just as he was about to take her hand, Dilandau threw himself on top of Van pinning him down. Van yelled for Hitomi to run before Dilandau hit him in the stomach, then the head, knocking him out. Hitomi screamed. Then she threw another fireball at him. It grazed the already hurt shoulder but Dilandau ignored it. When he reached her he threw her over his shoulder and started back to the trees. She kicked, hit and screamed until he got fed up and knocked her out. Then he and Sander disappeared into the trees.

Kyria and Merle, who were in the sky, had seen everything. They couldn't do anything though, because Merle had nothing but claws and Kyria was holding Merle so she couldn't use any of her magic that required hands. They waited till Dilandau had Vanished before Kyria flew back down to Van. Merle instantly began fussing over him. Kyria was faced with a dilemma. she couldn't fly both of them back to the palace at the same time. Then she thought of something. She would fly Van back to the palace while Merle followed on foot. Merle didn't agree right away. She relented though, when Kyria told her that it was the quickest way to get Van some help. As Kyria picked up Van, Merle started back to the palace. Kyria took off and soon saw Merle running. A few minutes later, Kyria landed on Van and Hitomi's balcony. She set him on the bed then went to find help. When she reached the main hall she saw Allen Shezaer, Celena, and Millerna Aston. They had come to visit Vand and Hitomi and had just arrived. Knowing that they were friends of Van, Kyria immediately told them what had happened. Millerna and Celena headed for Van while Allen went to talk to Van's advisers. Just as Kyria was about to follow Millerna, Merle showed up. So they went up together. When they reached the room they saw Millerna examining a still unconcious Van. Then she turned and faced them.

"He'll be fine, except for a bump on his head. He'll have a headache when he wakes up too. For now let's let him sleep," Millerna told the others.

The four of them left the room and went to the main hall where Allen was pacing. He stopped when they walked in. When he asked about Van, he sighed in relief after hearing the verdict.

"I told Van's advisers what happened. They're pretty upset. They've already sent trackers to the spot. They're worried Hitomi might not be alive," Allen suddenly stopped.

The others looked to where he was staring. Van stood in the doorway with a scowl on his face. Merle instantly ran to him.

"Hitomi's alive. I can feel her, and I'm going to find her."

"Van, I know you want to find Hitomi, but you still need rest. You wont be any good to Hitomi if your sick," Millerna scolded.

"Besides," Kyria interjected softly. "Hitomi can probably escape on her own."

"How," Millerna asked.

"Her powers. She can use the fireball to burn through any ropes, (unless there chains, she thought) and she can use her wings to fly away."

Van was not comforted by this. He knew what Kyria was thinking and agreed. While Van was thinking of some way to save Hitomi, Kyria filled the others in on Hitomi's past and new powers.

"So your saying that Hitomi is a Draconian," Millerna asked amazed.

"A very powerful on, yes."

"Anything else we should know," Allen asked.

"Well, Millerna already knows this, but Hitomi is pregnant," Van said.

Celena and Allen's faces registered shock, then they turned to Millerna.

"Why didn't you tell us," Allen inquired.

"Because I thought it best for Van and Hitomi to tell you themselves. And speaking of which, we should go see if the trackers have any news on Hitomi."

This statement brought everyone back to the realitly that Hitomi was indeed gone. While everyone else went to the council room where the trackers were about to give their report, Van snuck away to find Hitomi his own way.


	13. Escape and Sickness

13. Escape and sickness

Hitomi slowly opened her eyes only to instantly close them again as her head exploded with pain. he waited for the pain to pass, then waited a few more minutes before trying to open her eyes again. This time she was able to take in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she was lying in the grass with her hands and feet in chains. They apparently weren't taking any chances that she might have some way to escape. The second thing she noticed, was the fire about five feet away. Two men were sitting by the fire. Hitomi recognized one as Dilandau, and that caused a shiver to race down her spine. However, she had never seen the other one before. What confused Hitomi was why Dilandau was there. Why would he be after her so much? Then she remembered the letter Allen sent about a year ago.

# # # Flashback # # #

"Your Majesties," A breathless servant yelled when he burst into the throne room. He made a hurried bow before he began talking quickly.

"An urgent letter has just arrived from Asturia! The messenger said for you to read it immediately."

He handed the letter to Van, bowed again and left when Van dismissed him. Van opened the letter and began to read. His face paled under his tan skin. He finished reading, handed the letter to Hitomi, then put his head in his hands. Hitomi read the letter and was shocked at it's contents:

'Dear Van and Hitomi,

I have some distressing news. Two weeks ago, Celena was kidnapped. She returned a week ago, very pale and sick. After she got better, she told me what happened. Some of the Zaibach sorcerers are still alive. They took her so they could take Dilandau out of her! According to Celena, they succeeded and now Dilandau is living and has his own body! With him reawakened there can be no doubt that another war is coming. Watch out for Dilandau, Van. He no doubt still holds a grudge against you for beating him. I have to go check on Celena. Be careful!

Allen Shezaer, Knight of Caeli'

# # # End Flashback # # #

After remembering this, Hitomi knew she had to get away. Now that Dilandau had his own body, he was probably more ruthless than than ever. She needed to wait till they were both asleep before attempting escape. During this time she would think of how to escape and what was happening.

Two hours later, they were finally asleep and Hitomi had a plan. She waited a little longer to make sure they were really asleep. Finally, she closed her eyes and concentrated on Van.

/Van? Can you hear me?/

_/Hitomi! Oh, Thank goodness. I've been so worried! Are you alright? Where are you?/_

/I'm fine for now. I don't know where I am. I'm surrounded by trees. Van, I can't use my fire ball. I'm in chains. Use the pendant to find me, because right now, I'm helpless./

_/I'll find you, Hitomi. Right now try to get some sleep. You'll need your strength./_

/Alright. Goodnight, Van. Please hurry!/

_/I will, Love. I will./_

With that Hitomi ended the conversation and fell asleep. Several hours later, Hitomi awoke to Van calling her in her mind.

_/Hitomi, Hitomi, wake up, love./_

/Van?/

_/Yes, I'm behind you in the trees. Are Dilandau and the other man still asleep?/_

Hitomi watched the men very carefully and decided that, yes they were both still asleep, but she didn't know for how much longer. She relayed this to Van.

_/ Ok, I'm coming. Stay quiet./_

Hitomi stayed perfectly still and quiet, her ears straining. Even though she was listening intently she couldn't hear Van at all. She was surprised at how quiet he was being. She almost jumped when he tapped her shoulder. She managed to keep herself still and quiet as Van gently picked her up. He snuck back into the trees. Even carrying Hitomi he still managed to stay as quiet as before. After a few minutes, they came across a small clearing. Gently setting Hitomi on the ground he took out a tool he brought to get the chains off. After a couple minutes, they came off with a clatter. Gently pulling Hitomi back into his arms, Van opened his wings and leapt into the night sky. After flying leisurely for a few hours, Van's wings were really getting tired. So they set down to rest. Hitomi had fallen asleep shortly after taking flight. Van sat down, intending to rest for a few minutes, but instead fell asleep. He woke up several hours later, when the sun shone on his face. When he realized he had fallen asleep, he sprang to his feet, scooped Hitomi into his arms and leapt up into the sky. A few hours later, Fanelia came into view. After landing on the balcony to their room, he put Hitomi to bed. She moaned. He became worried when he noticed that her face was flushed. He felt her forehead and frowned. She was burning up! Van ran out of the room to find Millerna. He found her in the library and asked her to come and check Hitomi. he said he would explain later, but that Hitomi was sick. The two hurried back to the room. Neither noticed Kyria standing there and had heard everything. So she took it upon herself to tell the others that Hitomi was back.

Meanwhile, Millerna was tending to Hitomi

"I think her problem is that she hasn't had anything to eat, and in her condition of being pregnant, not eating and everything else that happened yesterday. It's finally taken it's toll on her. We need to get some food and fuid in her. Go ask the kitchen to make some soup."

Van nodded. He went to find Merle so she could help. When he got to the library, he heard his friends talking about Hitomi. He walked in and they all got quiet.

"How is she doing," Allen asked.

"She has a high fever. Millerna said that she probably hasn't eaten since yesterday morning. Millerna wants me to get some soup for Hitomi, but I thought I'd tell you how things were going. How did you find out Hitomi was back, anyway?"

"I told them," Kyria spoke up. "I heard you talking to Millerna."

"I'll go have the cooks start on the soup," Merle volunteered. With that she scampered off to the kitchen.

"I'm going to see if Millerna needs anything else," Van said sighing.

He got up, left the library and headed back to his room. When he got there he saw Millerna pulling up the covers. Then she looked at Van.

"I take it you're going to stay with her?"

Van nodded.

"Good. When she wakes up, have her drink this," She showed him a cup on the bedside table. "It'll help her sleep and hopefully bring down her fever. If the soup comes before she wakes, give that to her first. She might need help. She'll be pretty weak. I'll be back later to check in on her."

With that, Millerna left leaving Van alone with Hitomi. He pulled a chair up and sat down next to the bed so he could hold Hitomi's hand. And that's how Merle found him later when she came in. She was holding a tray with the soup and a glass of water.

"Lord Van," She whispered.

Van's head shot up and looked at Merle. He hadn't even heard her come in.

"I brought the soup."

She set the tray down on a table next to the bed, then turned to look at Van.

"You really should get some rest, Lord Van."

"I don't want to leave Hitomi."

"I'll stay with her while you sleep. You won't do her any good if you get sick too. Now, please, go."

Van obediently got up, but before he left, he gave Merle the same instructions Millerna had given him. Then he went to the room next door and slept.

# # # Meanwhile in Zaibach # # #

**"YOU FOOL! How could you let her escape!"**

Mariana was beyond furious. Dilandau had let the seer escape! She sent out a blast of magic, sending Dilandau slamming into a wall. The attack was so unexpected that he let out a small cry and fell to his knees.

"I told you that if you failed me again, I would kill you, Dilandau. Instead, I'm going to make you wish I had killed you! GUARDS! Take this Imbecile to the dungeons. I'll figure out his punishment later," She said imperiously, waving her hand dismissively.

With that Dilandau was dragged away to await his punishment.

(I really liked writing this scene. **:)** )

# # # Back in Fanelia # # #

Van woke up three hours later and came back to find Merle still sitting Diligently in the chair reading a book. The soup, water, and medicine from Millerna were gone. Hitomi was sleeping peacefully.

Merle, having heard Van enter, went over to him and whispered to him.

"She woke up a couple of hours ago. I helped her eat the soup, the water and that other thing. She fell asleep shortly after. She's been sleeping since."

"Thank you, Merle. I'll sit with her now."

After that Merle left the two alone.

It stayed this way for two more days before Hitomi's fever finally broke. Three days later she was up and walking around as if she was never sick. After her ordeal though, They decided to wait another week before going to the Mystic Moon.

#A/N Phew! I didn't realize how long this chapter was till I was writing it. Hope you enjoy. I'm only writing because I was getting tired of reading. Also my internet is being really slow and uncooperative. It took me like 2-3 hours to finally get this on the site.#


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